What my musings are all about...

Blogging might well be the 21st century's form of journaling. As a writing teacher, I have always advised my students to keep a daily journal as a way of organizing their thoughts for future writing projects, a discipline I have unfortunately never consistently practiced myself. By blogging, I might finally be able to follow my own good advice.

The difference between journaling and blogging is that the blogger opens his or her writing to the public, something journal- writers are usually reluctant to do. I am not so reticent.

The trick for me will be to avoid cluttering the internet with more blather, something none of us need more of. If I stick to subjects I know: sports and literature, I believe I can avoid that pitfall. I can't promise that I'll not stray from time to time to comment on ancillary subjects, but I will make every attempt to be interesting and perhaps even insightful.

Monday, October 17, 2016

Forty-Niners and etc

After watching Colin Kaepernick under perform yesterday, it occurred to me that his under performance mirrored the entire teams performance. The 49ers are not a good pro football team. They might do well against Texas A&M, but probably not against Ohio State or Alabama. Where's the talent? Where is the enthusiasm? Where is the chutzpah? Is Carlos Hyde a premier running back?
Do we have outstanding receivers? Can the offensive line protect the passer or open holes for runners? There was so much space between the defensive backs and the opponents' receivers, the at 77 years old I could have caught Alex Smith's passes. Really, I'm not kidding; this is an awful team. If Trent Balke and Chip Kelly aren't seeing this, they need magnifying glasses. I still believe Kap has what it takes, but all of a sudden he's become a "work in progress." When I read in this morning's sports page Chip Kelly responding to the question of whether Kap will be his starting QB for the next game with a "Yeah, we'll see," I almost fainted. Are you kidding me? Would you even consider putting the ball back in Blaine Gabbart's hands? Then, I thought, I wonder if Chip isn't an example of the Peter Principle. Great college coach, but over his head on the pro level.

Unlike the 49ers, the Raiders have the talent. So what is missing? Experience? Yes, they are young and need to go through the College of Hard Knocks. And perhaps, they need their coaches to supply them with some hard knocks. I always worry when a coach, on any level, is referred to as a "players' coach." The image I always get is a coach who wants to be pals with his players, which is a doomsday strategy. Give me a coach that "kicks ass" fairly and across the board, and I'll show you a coach players respect. Of course, unless the player is a weenie and a drama queen. Enough said, anybody who's ever played sports on any organized level knows the best coaches are those who hold their players to the highest standards.

It's time for Tony Romo to retire and leave his Cowboys in the capable hands of stunningly talented Dak Prescott. I have never been a Cowboy fan, but this Texas team has got everything it takes to win the Super Bowl.

Can't help cheering for the Sam Bradford led Minnesota Viking's, the only team in the NFL without a loss. Great come-back story for Bradford if he can keep it up. Another reason to be pulling for Bradford is that he is of Cherokee descent, one sixteenth on his dad's side from his great grandma, Susie Walking Stick, a full blood Cherokee. An NFL star Native American. You bet.

Hey, let's hear it for LeBron James, working to provide greater benefits and pension funds in the new CBA for older, retired NBA stars that were not the recipients of the great largess NBA players get today.

My pick for the Super Bowl: Dallas Cowboys vs New England Patriots.

Why I Never Played Football by Tom MescheryIt's not that I lacked courage,I was big and weighed enough to makea decent tight end or with a little workan offensive lineman or a fullback.What I couldn't see myself doingwas getting dirty, playing in mudor freezing in snow which, back thenwhen I was young,is what you hadto endure. Perhaps these dayswith covered stadiums I'd thinkdifferently. Still, there was boundto be more blood playing football,yours or somebody else's, than playing another sport. Goldfor example.See how cleanthose guys are out on the links,how civilized in their cardigans,in their neatly pressed trousers?

Thomas Meschery, a son of Russian immigrants, he became the first international player to play in an NBA All-Star Game in 1963.

An All-American success story. Born in China in 1938, he came to the U.S. with his parents after WW II. An All-American at Lowell High School, San Francisco, and St. Mary's College, Moraga, California. He was the youngest player to named a first team AAU All-American. NBA Star for ten seasons. Noted as one of the toughest players in the NBA. His jersey number has been retired by both St. Mary's and Golden State Warriors. Inducted into the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame in 2003.

Tom has published two books of poetry, 'Over the Rim' and 'Nothing You Lose Can Be Replaced' and a fourth-coming book of verse, 'Some Men'. He was inducted into the Nevada Writers Hall of Fame in 2000.